2001 Tahoe Radio Volume Not Adjusting

[TheEnder53]

Hello everyone!

I just picked up a 01 Tahoe 3 days ago.

She has 241K on her, almost 242K, and aside from some wear here and there it’s in absolutely mint condition. Love everything about it. Fully loaded too.

The guy i bought it from told me that a fuse blew for the radio which is why the speakers don’t work and i can’t adjust the volume, so i just wanted to ask here and see if i could get pointed in the right direction. Thank you.

 

[TheEnder53]

Forgot to add - The radio powers on just fine. Everything appears to work good but if i try to adjust the volume using the knob it does absolutely nothing.

 

[NoReverseYukon]

The volume control (potentiometer) is likely worn out or the track is dirty and not making contact.

 

[Fless]

Look for a separate amplifier fuse and check that circuit.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Welcome to the Forum from NH.

Lots of knowledgeable folks here who freely share their knowledge, experiences, and perspectives. Knowledge is power.

I hope that you will become a participating member in the Forum's discussions.

Pics of the truck, please.

You are already receiving sage advice from the knowledgeable folks on this Forum.

 

[29tomt]

Hello everyone!

I just picked up a 01 Tahoe 3 days ago.

She has 241K on her, almost 242K, and aside from some wear here and there it’s in absolutely mint condition. Love everything about it. Fully loaded too.

The guy i bought it from told me that a fuse blew for the radio which is why the speakers don’t work and i can’t adjust the volume, so i just wanted to ask here and see if i could get pointed in the right direction. Thank you.

Are you getting a chime when you do not put on seat belts, leave key in ignition getting out, lights on, etc? If not, you most likely have same problem that I have and others have had for which I have not seen a specific fix. Mine started out with what you are experiencing and all of a sudden, the radio would start playing. I soon learned that the radio would work when it was hot outside. As time went on it had to be hotter and hotter. This year it was over 100 in the car when it worked once. I tried replacing the amp to no avail and checked fuses under hood and on side of dash. Chimes go thru the radio. Assuming you have a bose of course. You will get general answers like check fuses and grounds, but there is something specific about all of those Bose Tahoe factor radios of that era that did this same thing after a while. I gave up and just decided to listen to Simply Radio app on my Iphone or XM. The head lights up. Replacing it would have gotten into security codes, the dealer, etc.

 

[29tomt]

I am referring to my 2003 Tahoe and probably the 2000-2006 range of Tahoes.

 

[BatsTDK]

I am referring to my 2003 Tahoe and probably the 2000-2006 range of Tahoes.

The chimes are generated by the sound system only on 2003-2006 models. 2000-2002 have a separate chime unit in the dash.

 

[TheEnder53]

Are you getting a chime when you do not put on seat belts, leave key in ignition getting out, lights on, etc? If not, you most likely have same problem that I have and others have had for which I have not seen a specific fix. Mine started out with what you are experiencing and all of a sudden, the radio would start playing. I soon learned that the radio would work when it was hot outside. As time went on it had to be hotter and hotter. This year it was over 100 in the car when it worked once. I tried replacing the amp to no avail and checked fuses under hood and on side of dash. Chimes go thru the radio. Assuming you have a bose of course. You will get general answers like check fuses and grounds, but there is something specific about all of those Bose Tahoe factor radios of that era that did this same thing after a while. I gave up and just decided to listen to Simply Radio app on my Iphone or XM. The head lights up. Replacing it would have gotten into security codes, the dealer, etc.

I do not think the 01 Tahoes came with bose radios as an option, haha.

The chimes work fine, no issues there.

 

[TheEnder53]

Welcome to the Forum from NH.

Lots of knowledgeable folks here who freely share their knowledge, experiences, and perspectives. Knowledge is power.

I hope that you will become a participating member in the Forum's discussions.

Pics of the truck, please.

You are already receiving sage advice from the knowledgeable folks on this Forum.

Thank you for the warm welcome! I appreciate it! Apologies for not responding sooner, been quite busy these past few days. Here’s some pics of the ol girl. I plan on doing a full restoration soon as i’ve wanted one of these for a VERY long time.

 

[TheEnder53]

Just as an update, I checked all the fuses (both in cabin and in engine bay) and there aren’t any blown fuses. I’m going to check and see if there’s sound coming out of the middle console aux ports as i’ve heard if there isn’t that that would most likely be indicative of a bad radio.

There’s an aux cord in the middle console under the fold down trim, hooked it up to my old phone with an aux port and attempted to play something, to no avail. Radio didn’t do anything when i hit AUX on it.

I guess next step would be to check voltages, kind of a novice at that so it worries me a bit. The truck does have an aftermarket alarm system on it, and also has aftermarket (i think) displays in the headrests of the drivers/passengers seats.

I’d really love to get the sound system working, as well, it’s a bit annoying having to play music over a crappy phone speaker, haha. Wish everyone well today!

 

[TheEnder53]

Whelp, after the 3AM urge to fix things came in, i decided to take out the radio and here’s what i found. I think this might be the cause of my issues, only way to tell is to delve in later tomorrow into this rats nest and test voltages.

I would really like some help if at all possible as i am very new to that, though.

 

[BatsTDK]

That’s quite a hack job back there that someone did. That black box is not factory. Looks like an AUX adapter. I also see someone added an in-line fuse in that yellow holder attached to the red wire. Have you checked if that fuse is good? No idea what it’s for, but may as well rule that out too.

Is your radio factory? It sounds like a lot of rigging may have been done as you mentioned you have screens in the back of the headrests… those would be aftermarket as GM never offered a video system like that.

 

[TheEnder53]

That’s quite a hack job back there that someone did. That black box is not factory. Looks like an AUX adapter. I also see someone added an in-line fuse in that yellow holder attached to the red wire. Have you checked if that fuse is good? No idea what it’s for, but may as well rule that out too.

Is your radio factory? It sounds like a lot of rigging may have been done as you mentioned you have screens in the back of the headrests… those would be aftermarket as GM never offered a video system like that.

Fuse is good, plugged the OEM connector back into the radio and still no sound from the speakers.

The radio is OEM, i haven’t dug further into it yet as i had to get my other truck (what i call project paperweight) out of the driveway so i can start work on the Tahoe.

I’m going to remove all the butchered wiring stuff and see where i can go from there. The aux cables seem to have been cut and have duct tape covering the exposed wires.

 

[BatsTDK]

You don't have the Bose radio right? I know in my rig, there is a Bose amplifier that must receive the signal to turn on, otherwise no sound.

 

[Fless]

Pic of the radio face?

 

[TheEnder53]

You don't have the Bose radio right? I know in my rig, there is a Bose amplifier that must receive the signal to turn on, otherwise no sound.

I don’t think so, no. I know if i look up the vin on the chevy vin decoder thing it comes up with the premium 9 speaker with amp sound system though.

 

[TheEnder53]

Pic of the radio face?

 

[TheEnder53]

Looking more at some forum posts i want to test and see if the amplifier is bad. How would i go about doing that? Is there any way to test and see if the radio is putting out anything?

 

[TheEnder53]

Ok. Radio in center console is working, so it’s either a speaker or wiring issue. Amp fuse is good, so im confused a bit here.